POWER July 2021 - 6

India Pursues Ambitious Solar
Goals Despite Pandemic's Impact
India has one of the world's most aggressive
solar development targets.
The country's leaders have said they
want to install 450 GW of renewable
power generation capacity by 2030,
a figure that would amount to about
55% of the total electricity capacity the
country has estimated it will need by
the end of the decade.
Government data showed India had
just more than 94 GW of renewable generation
capacity installed as of the end of
March 2021, about 25% of the country's
total capacity. A recent report from Mercom
India, part of Mercom Capital Group,
said that at the end of March 2021 cumulative
solar installations accounted for
41 GW of generation capacity, with 35.5
GW from large-scale projects, and the
rest from rooftop solar. The group said
India's large-scale solar project development
pipeline stands at 53.6 GW, and
there also were 24.1 GW of projects tendered
and pending auction at the end of
the first quarter this year. The group said
solar installations accounted for 33% of
all power capacity added in the first three
months of this year, and said renewables
as a whole, including wind and hydro,
made up close to 50% of capacity additions
in the quarter.
Investors have taken notice. Adani
Green Energy, part of the Adani Group
that is India's largest developer of solar
power-and also among the biggest in
the world-in May announced it was
buying SB Energy India from Japan's
SoftBank Group and India's Bharti Group
in a $3.5 billion deal. Adani said the purchase
is
India's largest transaction of
renewable energy to date. SB Energy
India has about 5 GW of renewable energy
assets in India, with most of that
solar power (Figure 1). Adani has its own
suitors; earlier this year, France's Total SE
said it would buy a 20% stake in Adani
Green Energy for $2.5 billion.
Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani
Group, in a statement said, " This acquisition
is another step towards the vision
we stated in January 2020, wherein we
laid out our plans to become the world's
largest solar player by 2025 and thereafter
the world's largest renewable company
by 2030. India, without any doubt,
has been one of the few nations that has
accelerated its global commitment to6
1.
This SB Energy India solar farm is among the company's 5 GW of renewable energy assets
in India. Adani Green Energy, part of the Adani Group, in May announced it was buying SB Energy
India in a $3.5 billion deal. Courtesy: SB Energy
wards climate change and we intend to
do our part to execute on the promises
made. The renewable energy platform
that we are building will lay the foundation
for attracting several other global
industries that are increasingly looking
to reduce their carbon footprint [as well
as lay the foundation for opening up adjacent
platforms that include hydrogen
and storage]. We are well on our way to
achieve our stated solar portfolio targets
four years before the deadline we set
for ourselves. The quality of assets that
SoftBank and the Bharti Group have built
are excellent and I compliment their efforts
to support India's renewable energy
transition. We are proud to take their
legacy forward. "
Vikram Solar, one of the country's
leading module manufacturers, along
with providing engineering and construction
services for both utility-scale
and residential installations, in May said
it had completed an 85-MW solar plant
project commissioned for National Thermal
Power Corp. Ltd. (NTPC) at Bilhaur,
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The new installation,
when combined with a recently
commissioned 140-MW project for
NTPC at the same location, is now the
largest solar farm in a single location in
Uttar Pradesh.
" It was an honor for us to partner with
NTPC for this prestigious project, " said
Saibaba Vutukuri, CEO of Vikram Solar.
" This project presented the opportunity
to increase our contribution to India's
solar mission and we are proud to be
chosen by NTPC to make such an effort.
NTPC is one of our oldest clients and we
have been partnering in several of their
www.powermag.com
solar projects. We are proud to say that
we have a portfolio of commissioned
and under-construction projects totaling
~708 MW with NTPC, as it identifies our
commitment and focuses on customercentricity.
We are hopeful of a continued
journey with NTPC towards realizing the
company's green energy goals. "
The country's rural areas also are
getting new opportunities to use solar
power. Pramod Sawant, the chief
minister of Goa, has inaugurated a solar
photovoltaic-based electrification
program to deliver power to residents
of the rural areas of the state. The initiative
is led by Convergence Energy
Services Ltd. (CESL) and Goa Energy
Development Agency (GEDA). CESL is
a subsidiary of the state-owned Energy
Efficiency Services Limited.
The project aims to electrify remote
areas in the smallest state of the country
through renewable energy where
grid connectivity is not feasible. This
project is CESL's first off-grid electricity
program; the group will install and
maintain solar PV systems for five years
under the state government's Remote
Village Electrification program.
Said Sawant: " We will achieve 100%
electrification for all homes in Goa, that
too with clean energy. We have made
policy decisions for Goa to transition to a
green state in a fast and concerted way.
I congratulate GEDA and CESL for their
good work. "
Mercom India in its recent report said
the country added 2.05 GW of solar
power capacity in the first three months
of this year, and said solar accounted for
about 10.7% of the country's total inPOWER
| July 2021

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POWER July 2021

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